Sincerely But Never Yours
by A. Alice-LaCasse
Summary: He was peculiar and a little too observant for her tastes, but he was also alone, just like her, at the fault of their shared past. So she would dance with him, just until they could both forget how much they had lost. — [Q x OC]


**Sincerely But Never Yours**

**Prologue:** _Death_

* * *

Pain. Searing and heart numbing pain shot through her body like a wildfire. Scorching and burning as it ravelled further down her limbs, the bitter taste of copper numbing her mouth as she desperately tried to get some oxygen back into her lungs. Her hands, slick with warm blood – _her blood_ – tried to desperately grasp onto something solid when she felt a body fall next to her.

"Keep breathing, kid," the manly voice ordered, and even through her haze of agony she recognised 007's voice clearly.

Gunshots echoed close to them, her mouth moving to form words but failing to as she observed James's dirty and beaten form aim another shot behind the wall they were hiding.

Tears were starting to gather in her eyes when she realized that she didn't have long left, she wasn't an idiot after all, she knew very well that with her wounds she won't last long, not unless she got professional help and quickly.

James, who managed to shoot another man straight into his chest, turned to her, his brilliantly blue eyes hard as he stared at her crumpled form with critical eye. Another few shots rang out, barely skimming past the edge of the wall as James quickly leaned back, pressing his back against the wall and counting to three before firing a couple shots of his own; the last one fired specifically so he could buy himself enough time to get out of there.

Burning hot water started pouring into the room at rapid phase from the burst pipe above it, burning the men who were on the ground in the process. Letting a small, victorious smirk grace his features, James hurriedly moved towards the barely conscious brunette, a small puddle of blood forming steadily around her.

He cursed silently, and reached with his hand to lightly slap her on the cheeks to get her attention. Her blue eyes, only few shades darker than his own, were full of pain and anguish as her sweaty and bruised face crumpled into agonised grimace. James eyes quickly flickered down towards her stomach were the dark, red circle was slowly blooming, dark ink running down her fragile looking fingers. He didn't think twice before ripping a part of his shirt sleeve off and lifting her hands lay the material against her stomach, placing her tiny hand on top of it and pushing down harder, causing her to wince in pain but make the stopping of blood loss more effective.

A small whimper of pain escaped her chapped lips as he quickly but carefully scooped her into his arms and hurriedly dashed off, trying to ignore the girl's distressed cries and moans.

"James…James…tell him…tell him that I…"

"Quiet, stop talking, you need to save your strength," he grunted gruffly, glancing down at her. Dark storm clouds were rolling in the sky as people hastily ran towards their homes, not wanting to be caught in the middle of a storm. James moved as quickly as he could throughout the deserted alleyways, hoping not to attract unwanted attention. Their small base wasn't far, but he was tired, sore and had an injured comrade on his hands. And although she was tiny and otherwise would have weighted nothing in his arms, after everything they've both been through these last few days he wasn't at his usual 100% to say the least.

"Promise me…promise me you'll take care of him," she mumbled deliriously, her worlds hardly making any sense to him. "I…I don't want him to be alone…"

James skidded to stop as he noticed three men holding guns on the other side of the street hurriedly looking around, trying to spot them. He stepped back blending in with the shadows of the alleyway, adjusting his grip on the girl in his arms.

"He's not alone, remember," he said, his sharp eyes still locked on the men, while working to keep the girl conscious as long as he could. "He has you. It's always been this way, hasn't it? You and him, against the world."

She smiled widely, her usually lively and mischievous eyes now like a pair of glassy domes, unseeing and blank. James immediately noticed smudges of blood both on her lips and her teeth, his features hardening even more when he realized that her condition was worsening far quicker than he anticipated.

The men across the street finally ran off north and James hesitated for only a minute to make sure that he won't be spotted before he dashed across the street, willing his legs to move quicker as the rain began pouring heavily from the heavens above.

James breathed heavily, his feet tapping against the now muddy ground as droplets of rain ran down his cheeks, making him blink few times to clear his vision. The brunette in his arms was unnaturally still and James shook her a little, causing her to let out a breathy moan of agony, her eyelids fluttering like scared bird's wings while she tried to concentrate on his features.

"Deep breaths. I promised that annoying brat that I'd bring you back in one piece and keep you safe, so don't you dare give up now," he ordered, his voice harsh and throaty, features twisted into a deep scowl. He let out a small huff of irritation when he noticed the lack of response from the girl and knew that he only had few minutes at best before she lost consciousness completely.

James didn't waste any time, running down across another street, his eyes swiftly looking around to work out where he was. He dashed west, knowing full well that he was only two streets away from the location of their mini base. By now his own lungs were burning for air, his body sore and weak as he pushed himself forward.

And then, _finally_, he spotted the familiar brick building in his sight of vision, moving faster in hopes to get there before the girl faded away.

Her own eyes fluttered open briefly as she saw James hastily brining her into basement of a red brick building. Something about it rang familiarity somewhere deep inside her mind, however her thoughts too scattered from pain couldn't find its meaning. Her body was starting to feel numb from the cold rain and feeling in her arms and face was almost gone.

"Christ! What the hell happened?" she faintly heard Fox's voice speak frantically and as per usual it was slightly muffled by the lollipop he had in his mouth all the time. She could hear James's harsh heartbeat in her ear accompanied by her own unsteady one. Different sounds of commotion reaching her ears, but she only wanted to see one person, the only one that mattered at that moment.

She felt James gently – or as gently as someone in his condition could – place her on the ground, his weary face appearing above her, his features slightly blurred.

"Hold on tight, warrior princess," he spoke firmly, putting some pressure on her wound, causing a shudder of pain go through her body.

"_What happened?_"

Ah…that voice, _his_ voice, she heard even through Fox's ramble and hurried footsteps around her as well as her own laboured breathing.

Her hand twitched as if moving against its own accord towards his voice. Seconds later she felt him kneel beside her, his large hand resting gently against her forehead.

"She got shot, genius," James responded indelicately as he looked up at Fox who was marching back and forth not far from them, talking quickly into his phone. "Hurry up! She's bleeding to death here. Q watch her," he commanded roughly before standing up and walking towards Fox before ripping the phone out of man's hands.

Q stared at her, unblinking, almost uncomprehending as he cupped her neck lifting her to rest against his lap. Her eyes watered a little as she tried to smile at him, glad that she got to see him before…well…

His face, so familiar, was controlled by a wild range of different emotions that she couldn't quite understand herself, and if she didn't know any better she would have said that he was worried about her. Funny that, she only saw him worried about her twice in many years she'd known him. Once when the MI6 blew up and she was suppose to be in it, and the other time was a long and distant memory of the times when things were simpler. Back when they were both just children; carefree and happy, or at least as happy as one could be when living in an orphanage. It was then, on that sunny spring day when she fell out of a tree and broke her leg was the one, and as she would later believe, the only time she would ever see Q worried about her.

In the end, she would miss him the most, the only one that ever mattered…

All the things she wanted but won't say.

All the things he can't say.

They echoed in the distance between them, and perhaps always will.

"Q…Is that it…have I paid? Have I paid for my sins?" she breathed shakily, raising her bloodied hand to rest against his cheek, his familiar brown eyes staring at her with emotion she couldn't quite name. "Am I finally forgiven?"

Her hand shook weakly against his cheek and her fingers slipped falling to rest weakly against his chest, leaving smudges of blood on his cheek, while she tried to give him another smile.

"_L…_" he spoke lowly, his voice as soft and as soothing as she remembered it to be. She really was glad she got see him one last time. And only when her breath staggered in her chest did she realised the irony of her last statement. She spoke of forgiveness to one person she knew would never forgive _her_. And as she faded from consciousness she remembered words she spoke to him a long, long time ago back when everything changed between them forever.

"_You'll never have to forgive me."_

* * *

**AN: **Hm, hello!~ How are you lovlies doing? Welcome to yet another new story of mine. I saw Skyfall a week ago and ever since then been working on a Q story of my own. There are few Q stories around but I want even more of them, because his character is great and complex and I have a week spot for nerdy guys since I study computers myself.

However, unlike most Q stories I've read where Q and OC meet in MI6 for the first time, this story will deal with someone from Q's past. So you can definitely mark this story as Q's origins story, purely because I wanted even more complexity in his character and I personally expected him to have quite interesting past.

_**Timescale:**_ Prologue is post-Skyfall, however next chapter will begin pre-Skyfall and will touch heavily upon the movie, so if you haven't seen it beware of the spoilers although they won't come in for quite few chapters yet. There will also be quite few chapters dealing with Q's past before he became the Quartermaster as well as his connection with L (aka my OC).

Thank you for reading, folks!

**A.~**


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